Free Republic

Corruption is killing Iraq’s future. In a recent report released by the U.S. Government Accountablity Office entitled; REBUILDING IRAQ, Integrated Strategic Plan Needed to Help Restore Iraq’s Oil and Electricity Sectors, the section detailing corruption is particularly disturbing. As a conscious member of the human race, I am unashamedly concerned about the black market trade in petroleum. Why? Because hundreds of millions of dark dollars are going to projects unlikely to benefit U.S. national security, or the security of America’s allies. Under the circumstances, these illicit funds are more than likely funding America’s enemies. A reasonable solution would be to...

MOSCOW-Russia's U.N. envoy on Wednesday warned the United States against trying to put a Western-backed independence plan for Kosovo to a vote, saying it would split the U.N. Security Council and create deadlock on the issue. Vitaly Churkin said Russia continues to strongly oppose the plan proposed by U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtissari that would give independence to Kosovo, which has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999. Churkin warned that Russia, which is a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power, was prepared to take any action necessary to block the plan, although he stopped short of saying...

Nationwide Pro-Family Coalition Warns Parents to Keep their Children Home from School on 'Gay' Day of Silence, April 18th.

Tonight State Department official Alberto Fernandez apologized for his outrageous statements to Al Jazeera television—but the damage is done: Envoy Sorry for Iraq ‘Stupidity’ Comment : Quote : (AP)— A senior U.S. diplomat apologized Sunday night for saying U.S. policy in Iraq displayed “arrogance” and “stupidity.” A day after his remarks in an interview were broadcast by the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera, Alberto Fernandez issued a written apology through the State Department press office. “Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase ‘there has been arrogance and stupidity’ by...

IN February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress for $75 million to help Iran’s democratic opposition. In Iran, her request was widely discussed in the news media and in opposition circles. It became particularly controversial after an article in The New Yorker on March 6 suggested that this money might be used in an attempt to change the regime in Tehran with the help of Iranian democrats, particularly those living abroad. ... What we need in our fight for freedom is not foreign aid but conditions that would allow us to focus all of our energies on the domestic...

On a train ride out of the Northeast corridor between Philly and D.C., I had one of those Jerry McGuire moments. ... You know, the kind of moment where some of the big picture ideas in life really crystallize. Unlike the character in the movie, I was thinking about the future of the conservative movement (not about the life of the uber sports marketing agent). The timing of my “mission statement” was tied to the tough week conservatives had just experienced in the U.S. Senate. We had a double setback of failing to produce a majority in support of a...

Spammers beware--hostile amphibians are once again rising against you. First there was Blue Frog, a community antispam effort that stopped operating last week after Blue Security, the company that started the project, came under a withering denial-of-service attack. Out of the ashes comes Black Frog, part of a project that is apparently willing to become a flag bearer in the fight against spam. The project, dubbed Okopipi, is developing the Black Frog antispam software as an open-source project, according to the group's wiki. "This project aims to become a distributed replacement of antispam software Blue Frog," the Okopipi wiki states....

High-ranking members of Bill Clinton's national security team have joined together to defeat Pennsylvania Republican Curt Weldon's House re-election bid this November - in what looks like retaliation for Weldon's efforts in exposing the Clinton administration's Able Danger scandal. In June 2005, Weldon went public with news that Clinton administration lawyers prevented the Defense Intelligence Agency's Able Danger group from blowing the whistle on two al-Qaida terrorists who would later pilot the planes that destroyed the World Trade Center. Though the media downplayed Weldon's bombshell, a number of high ranking Clinton officials apparently haven't forgotten - and they're pouring money...

***scroll for updates...1230pm EDT Looks like the problem may be resolved, though several blogs still down...Glenn Reynolds confirms the attack originated in Saudi Arabia, as I suspected...Mary Katherine Ham of downed blog hughhewitt.com is guest-blogging over at Wizbang...Hugh's back up...looks like most are back up...update on Aaron's CC below...513pm EDT update several blogs reporting they are down again...*** Many Hosting Matters-hosted blogs are down--including Instapundit, Power Line, Hugh Hewitt, and tons of others large and small. Hosting Matters' own website is also down. Blogger Chuck Simmins e-mails: Denial of service attack on Hosting Matters. Most, if not all, their hosted...

Michelle Wie Golfs With Role Model Condi Teenage golfer Michelle Wie couldn't believe she played golf with one of her role models, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I was like, 'Oh my God, it's the secretary of state. They put me in charge of driving her around" in a golf cart, Wie told Time magazine for its issue on newsstands Monday. "I was like, if I crash, the secretary of state goes down with me," the 16-year-old Hawaiian high school junior said. When asked what she thought of radio host Rush Limbaugh calling her a "triumph of marketing," Wie, the...

Dear readers: Yes, I know the site has been down all morning. Yes, I've contacted the FBI. I will try to get back to work, but this has been a bit of a distraction. Thanks for sticking with me.

Last Tuesday, during or immediately after my appearance on Fox News Channel to discuss the Mohammed Cartoons, this blog was hit by a large, foreign-based denial of service attack. Last night, my hosting service notified me that it is receiving ongoing threats from individuals vowing to take down this site--and others along with it--which will presumably continue until I take down the cartoons. For now, we are on guard and continuing with business as usual. But you should know there's something much wider and deeper going on: I. Security Pro News reports on the latest Islamist hacker attacks spurred by...

ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C. Crocker said on Friday that the blasphemous cartoons published in certain European newspapers were offensive to Muslims and did not reflect respect for their religious beliefs. In reply to a question, the ambassador said: “These cartoons do not reflect in anyway the views of the American people towards Islam.” “We believe that inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable. We stand for tolerance and respect for all communities and for their religious beliefs and practices.” The US, said Mr Crocker, recognized and respected freedom of the press...

Excerpt from Daily Press Briefing: QUESTION: Yes? Can you say anything about a U.S. response or a U.S. reaction to this uproar in Europe over the Prophet Muhammad pictures? Do you have any reaction to it? Are you concerned that the violence is going to spread and make everything just -- MR. MCCORMACK: I haven't seen any -- first of all, this is matter of fact. I haven't seen it. I have seen a lot of protests. I've seen a great deal of distress expressed by Muslims across the globe. The Muslims around the world have expressed the fact that...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington on Friday condemned caricatures in European newspapers of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, siding with Muslims who are outraged that the publications put press freedom over respect for religion. "These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question. "We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."

U.S. Says It Also Finds Cartoons of Muhammad OffensiveBy JOEL BRINKLEY and IAN FISHER Published: February 4, 2006 WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — The Muslim world erupted in anger on Friday over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in Europe while the Bush administration offered the protesters support, saying of the cartoons, "We find them offensive, and we certainly understand why Muslims would find these images offensive."

Here's how to DIRECTLY show your disgust for State supporting the Islamic extremists in the issue of freedom of the press. This link is an email form for questions and comments. Perhaps if Condaleeza Rice hears about a massive email campaign, State will change it's tune. Tell State what you think Your voice makes a difference.

LONDON - A Web site that earned an enterprising British student $1 million suffered a crippling attack by ransom-seeking hackers. Alex Tew, 21, said Wednesday that his Million Dollar Homepage was targeted after he publicized how it had helped him raise money for his university studies. Tew had sold 10,000 small squares of advertising space on the Web site for $100 each, achieving his target in four months. His initiative spawned several copycat sites. But Tew said that on Jan. 7, he received a threat from an organization calling itself "The Dark Group," demanding that he pay them $50,000 within...

Washington renews blacklist of eight countries considered violators of religious freedoms including Saudi Arabia, Iran. The United States on Tuesday renewed its blacklist of eight countries considered violators of religious freedoms, turning back requests to add Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice extended the designation of US ally Saudi Arabia as a "country of particular concern" as well as that of China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Vietnam, Eritrea and Sudan. "These are countries where governments have engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom over the past year," Rice told a news conference. "We are...

DIPLO WON'T TESTIFY IN SAUDI PROBE By NILES LATHEM WASHINGTON — The State Department abruptly pulled a top official from testifying at a Senate hearing on Saudi links to terrorism today amid a massive lobbying campaign by Saudi agents to discredit the proceedings, The Post has learned. A State Department spokeswoman confirmed that Alan Misenheimer, the department's director of Arabian Peninsula and Iran Affairs, had bowed out of testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing exploring whether Saudi Arabia was a friend or a foe in the war on terrorism. Other officials said Misenheimer's appearance was scrapped due to concerns...